Freebie Policies & FAQs

Looking to learn even more about our fun & friendly giveaways? How about some thrilling rules and policies? Buckle your seat belts, this is going to be exciting.

Q: Why do you do giveaways?A: You asked for them. When we polled our readers back in September of 2008, “contests” were heavily requested. Plus, we love being able to reward you guys for your continued support and enthusiasm. Giving away some free stuff now and then is the least we can do.

Q: Where do all these Fab Freebies come from?
A: Our prizes are generously donated by the company or individual mentioned in each giveaway post. They’re looking to gain a little exposure by doling out free stuff to our lovely readers, and that’s something we can wholeheartedly support.

Q: Wait, are you giving the item away or is a third party?
A: We facilitate these weekly giveaways but do not actually give anything away or mail any prizes. The company who sponsors the giveaway is directly responsible for that. Therefore we cannot be held responsible for any prize that is not received as we are not involved with the prize’s shipment or delivery. Any issues involving the shipment, delivery, receipt, (or quantity, quality, etc.) of a prize must be taken up with the company who sponsored the giveaway directly. Thankfully we haven’t had any issues with things like that to date.

Q: How do you select the “random” winner?
A: We now use Rafflecopter to help us pick all of our winners. Once the contest closes it randomly selects and displays the winner’s name for all to see.

Q: Why are your winners always random?
A: To be honest, we just can’t bear the thought of having to pick a favorite in a contest where merit is involved. Perhaps we’ll sponsor some independently judged contests in the future, but for now we’re happy to play Switzerland and let a computer pick the winners.

Q: Who is eligible to win?
A: There’s no purchase necessary to enter any of our freebies, so anyone who can figure out how to enter using the Rafflecopter widget is eligible to win. Well, except for the two of us, I guess. And we’re sure to identify where the prize can be shipped on a case-by-case basis, so location may be a factor in some contests while others are wide open to the entire planet. We don’t play that “friends and family members of John and Sherry aren’t eligible” game because, heck, we’d like to think of all of our readers as our friends. And since our giveaways are truly random, everyone’s on an equal playing field. Gotta love the luck of the draw.

Q: Why isn’t every contest open to Canadians/international readers? We actually ask every single vendor who approaches us to do a giveaway if they’ll ship internationally and we remind them that the more folks are included, the more exciting it is for everyone. We LOVE you all and always want to include as many of you as possible! It unfortunately comes down to each company’s policy (some folks are set up to deal with customs/shipping internationally while some companies are not legally able to vend things beyond the US thanks to taxation/delivery/liability reasons – even if it’s just a book or a gift card). If we held out for international prizes and rejected everything else, we could no longer host weekly giveaways – which we’ve done for years – so we’ll continue to do our best to include as many of you guys as we can!

Q: What if I’ve won a giveaway before on your blog?A: We believe in spreading the love to as many people as possible, so all winners are temporarily ineligible to win again for the following three weeks. But by the fourth week you’re back in the hat with everyone else and we certainly hope you’ll come back to enter again. Oh, and if you’re too busy to keep track yourself, we’ve got you covered. If your e-mail address finds its way into a contest too soon, we’ll kindly pluck it out ’til that fourth week rolls around.

Q: I’ve never won, so what’s the secret to upping my chances?
A: For now, we’re sticking to a strict one-entry-per-email-address system. We delete duplicate entries and, since the winner is notified by email, it’s gotta be a valid address. So if you wanna recruit your friends and family to enter for you, be our guest. Other than that, your best bet for upping your chances is to keep all appendages crossed at all times.

Q: Oh c’mon, can’t I earn bonus entries somehow? What if I mention it on my blog???
A: Sorry folks, but we’re sticking to our guns. While we’re a fan of other blogs who offer bonus entries for promoting their contests elsewhere, we’re happy to keep things simple.

Q: Shouldn’t there be some legal jargon on this page somewhere?
A: Just for kicks we’ll put on our Law & Order hats and attempt some for your entertainment: Young House Love, as operated by John and Sherry Petersik, reserves the right to execute any contest or giveaway on www.younghouselove.com at their discretion and determine winners as they see fit and as they see fair. Rules, entry guidelines, prizes, and eligibility for a contest may be changed at any time and without notice. Prize providers reserve the right to terminate a contest at any time and blog readers will be notified if and why this occurs. Young House Love assumes no responsibility for the shipment or receipt of prizes as that falls upon the individual sponsor of each giveaway.

Have a question that wasn’t answered here? Aren’t you thorough. Just shoot us a line at youngsters@younghouselove.com.